Illuminated advertising display



Aug. 22, 1939. R. LANCELOT 2,170,641

ILLUMINATED ADVERTISING DISPLAY Filed May 11, 1937 F/G.Z.

i l i 6.. ATTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 22, 1939 T UNITED "ST-ATE s PA ENT OFFICE} 'ILLUMINATED ADVERTISING DISPLAY Ralph mam. Pittsburgh, Pa. a plication May 11, 1937, Serial No. 141,890

This invention relates to illuminated advertise mg displays;{and has among its objects the provision of an advertising display for diaphanous articles which is attractive and which impartsa highly realistic and inviting appearance to the article displayed.

' Accordingly, a diaphanous article; such as a bottle, hollow parchment-like o'biect or other transparent or translucent object, is mounted on a box where it is associated with an opening in the box. A light inl'the b'ox shines through the opening and illuminates the diaphanous-article from'the .inside. In one form of the invention,

,wl'iich' is particularly suitable for advertising translucent liquids such as milk, a bottle is made translucent-and caused tolook as if it contained a given 'liquidby oating its side wall with a. paint-.ofs thedes'ired color. The bottom of the bottle is preferably left free of paint. This bottle is set ona box over an opening in its top.. In the box there isan electric light bulb which projectsits rays upwardly through the opening and the bottom' or the bottle into the bottle from.

which the rays are diflusedsubstantlally uniformlyin all directions." The efiect is that of a filled bottle'illuminated from the inside. The front panel of the box may be translucent and provided with suitable advertising .matter. In

another formof the invention .a similar light- A containing box is I I provided on which .is mounted a transparent bottle preferably containing a 'liq- -uid. A reflector is also mounted on the box be-- hind the bottle withits body portion. spaced from the bottle. The opening in the top of the box opens into the space between the bottle and 'reflector whereby light from the bulb in the box is'reflected-forwardly through the bottle. The surface of the reflector is formed in' such a manner that it breaks upthe light rays that it reflectsand makes the contentsof the bottle'appear to be'full of tiny bubbles, whereby a sparkling and coo appearance is imparted to the bot- .tle. In any form. of the invention'the light is diflused and is not just aconcentrated spot aswould be the case. if the light were placed-d1 rectly behind a bottle or the like-.1...

The invention isiHustrated m the mess ing drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a front view of-one embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2 is a side view thereof: Fig. 3 is a.plan view; Fig. 4'js a fragmentary perspective view of the reflector; and Fig. '5 is a side view of a modification of this invention.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a box i ispro-' vided in its top with an opening 2 below which an electric light bulb 3 is mounted. Mounted on the'top of the .box at the edge of opening 2 is a transversely or horizontally curved reflector 4' the front side edges of which are secured to an upright background panel .or'shield 6 rigidly 6 mounted on the box transversely thereof. The major portion of this shield directly in front of the reflector is cut away to form an opening 1 (Fig. 1) infront of which is disposed a transparent container or bottle 8 preferably fllled with a liquid. The bottle may merely rest on .the box, or' it'may be secured in position, so that it can not be accidentally knocked oil, by means of a material adapted to receive advertising matter.

By providing the front side and bottomedges o'f the box with channels l3, such as shown in Fig.

3, different panels containing various advertise- 25 ments may be interchangeably mounted in the front of the box. where they are illuminated from behind by the'light inside ofthe box. I It is a. feature of this invention that the light rays from light bulb I which travel upwardly through opening 2 in the top of the box into the space between the bottle and the reflector are not only reflected forward through the bottle, but

are also broken up in such manner as to give the bottle the appearance of being full of tiny bubbles whereby an attractive eflfervescent or cool sparkling eifect is imparted to the bottle. Accordingly, the reflecting surface of reflector '4 is roughened in such a manner as-togive this desired eifect, .as shown in'Fig. '4. This may be done in various- 40 "ways, the surface being stippled, pebbled, pitted or otherwise roughened. .A convenient way of doing this is to'use a reflecting surface formed: of-pebbled aluminum foil. .Liquid in the bottle magnifies the bubbles and therebyv increases the efl'ectivenessof the, display. If desired, a flasher element may be placed in the light socket so that the bulb will flash on and oil instead of burning continuously,

In the modification shown bottle 2| orlthe like in mounted directly over the opening 22 m the'top of the box a so that. the light rays {rum bulb 24 will shine upwardly into the bottle. To make the bottle appear to be full etmnuhateunuermiydmusethenghttm-eugh g in he; 5, e-

its side wall,-the latter is coated with white translucent paint, but the bottom is preferably left clear so as not to diminish the light shiningupwardly into the bottle. If desired, the bottle may be secured in place on the box by attaching it to rubber vacuum cups 26 secured to a background or shield 2! rigidly mounted on the box behind the bottle. It is not necessary that the article displayed be a bottle, because it may be any other translucent article such, for example, as a translucent simulation ofvany desired object.

According to the provisions oi the patent statutes, I have explained the principle and construction of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustratedand described.

I claim:

1. An advertising display comprising a box, a

translucent panel in the front of the box adapted to receive anadvertisement, the top of the box being provided with an opening, a bottle mounted on the box over said opening, an upright shield. rigidly mounted on the box behind the bottle, a vacuum cup secured to the shield and detachably connected to the bottle to hold it in place, and a light in the box below said opening for pro jecting light rays up into the bottle, the side wall oi the bottle being translucent to thereby difiuse the light rays substantially uniformly.

2. An advertising display comprising a box provided in its top with an opening, a bottle mounted on the box over said opening, an upright member mounted on the box behind the bottle, a vacuum cup secured to said upright member and detachably connected to the bottle to hold it in place, and a light in the box below said opening for projecting light rays up into the'bottle, the bottom of the bottle being transparent whereby it ofiers negligible resistance to 

